


도도한 여자 (bxtch)

by tostitos



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Genderswap, Humor, Mentions of other kpop groups, dedicated to dodo's #1 fan shin hoseok, fem!hyungwon, fem!kihyun, fem!minhyuk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2018-12-20 21:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11929284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tostitos/pseuds/tostitos
Summary: 'a lot of shit is said behind chae hyungwon's back about her being a frigid bitch who thinks she's better, smarter, prettier than and too good for anyone else. but hoseok doesn't have any of those prejudices - and not just because he thinks she's absolutely gorgeous.'(in which hyungwon isn't here to make friends and hoseok kind of worships the ground she walks on even if she has no idea who he is)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/monstazet)|[blr](http://at-tostitos.tumblr.com)|[cc](https://curiouscat.me/tosties)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe shin hoseok gave me an excuse to write genderbent!mon x (that's a lie, i totally can)
> 
> question: would you rather the genderswapped boys have feminized names or are we cool with real names?

mrs. gong is hardly out of the door at the end of class before minhyuk is thundering in like a hurricane, strands of her dark chocolate bob flying everywhere and shirt poking out of the side of her skirt. she slips between the desks, heading straight for the one against the window on the far right of the room.

hyungwon doesn't look up from her planner as minhyuk slams her hands down on the edge of her desk.

" _bitch_."

clicking the end of her purple gel pen, hyungwon draws three question marks and then writes beach party at 7 in the small square for this saturday. "i'm listening."

"cheer workshop. today. at four-thirty."

scanning over the list of homework she has to do, hyungwon eventually flips her planner closed. she props her elbow up on her desk and rests her chin in her palm. "pass."

minhyuk recoils in shock (just for the sake of being dramatic because there's no way she's surprised at being turned down for the nth time). "but why? you're such a great dancer. you'd be killer on the squad."

hyungwon spins her pen between her fingers lazily. "because i'm not interested in shaking my ass in a tiny skirt just so some sad ass boys can feel like they're doing something worthwhile."

groaning, minhyuk turns on her heel. she takes three steps away before stomping right back to hyungwon's desk.

"no." hyungwon says before minhyuk can even open her mouth again to beg more. for as much as they hated each other's guts in middle school, high school turned them into excellent enough friends that they could read each other with ease.

a firm pout makes its way onto minhyuk's lips. "at least come to the workshop with me. you can sit on the side and glare at everyone like you always do and scare off the weak girls."

hyungwon has better things to do, like taking her ass straight home to her queen sized bed, but she can't resist minhyuk when she balls his hands underneath her chin and wobbles her bottom lip. placing her pen down, hyungwon rolls her eyes before looking outside at the empty tennis court. "aren't cheer captains supposed to be peppy and supportive?"

minhyuk snorts. "bitch, have you never seen an early 2000s cheer movie before?" she sits down on the edge of the desk, legs haphazardly sticking out into the aisle.

glancing at her friend out of the corner of her eye, hyungwon clicks her tongue. "excuse me for expecting you to not follow the stereotype."

"and now you know better."

a cough has the two girls looking over at the boy standing off to the side. hyunwoo looks from minhyuk's legs to the chair her feet are lying in front of. "can i sit down?"

a wide grin stretches minhyuk's cheeks. "i don't know. what's the password?"

sighing, hyunwoo rakes his fingers through caramel brown hair. he should be used to this; it happens during almost every break in between classes.

hyungwon would usually sit back and watch the two go back and forth or watch minhyuk be a general nuisance and hyunwoo slowly get more and more exasperated but today she takes pity on the boy. "move, bitch, get out the way," hyungwon says with zero inflection. slender fingers with pale peach pained nails latch on to minhyuk's arm and yank the girl out of the way.

minhyuk stumbles as she lets hyungwon move her to the space between the window and her desk. hyunwoo mumbles out his thanks as he slides his chair out and takes a seat.

hyungwon doesn't smile or tell him that it's no problem. she glances at minhyuk. "shouldn't you get back to your classroom? fourth period starts in, like, three minutes."

at that, mr. oh strides into the classroom with his leather shoulder bag. he heaves it over his shoulder and places it down on the podium at the front of the classroom. thick rimmed glasses hang around his neck by a cord and he puts them on, looking out to the class who starts to return to their seats in anticipation of the bell.

"good morning, class. _good bye_ , ms. lee. and please fix your uniform before you go."

minhyuk frowns but properly tucks her shirt in. "i see how it is, saem." she taps hyungwon's desk and points her finger right between the younger girl's eyes. "four-thirty. if you don't show up, i'll sic kihyun on you."

"is that supposed to scare me?" a hint of a smile graces her plump, chapstick soft lips. hyungwon lowers minhyuk's hand and shoos her off. "i'll be there, okay?"

minhyuk narrows suspicious eyes at hyungwon, judging if she's telling the truth. hyungwon tilts her head to the side and quirks a perfectly shaped brow. in the ten seconds they stare at each other, minhyuk must see something trustworthy because she breaks out into her signature grin. "great!" she blows hyungwon a kiss and isn't even bothered when the younger girl pretends to catch and then promptly throw it on the floor. "four-thirty!" she reminds one last time and then she's running off to her classroom down the hall.

hyungwon shakes her head, tucks a strand of her coffee, shoulder length hair behind her ear, and pulls out her history textbook from inside her desk.

 

an age-stained brown basketball flies through the air from the three point line toward the hoop and it misses by a whole meter, bouncing three times and rolling towards the door leading out of the gym.

changkyun tries to hide a snort and fails. "what the hell was that, hoseok?"

hoseok watches the ball hit the wall next to a pair of legs that stop just inside the door. his eyes travel up the long pair of legs, hiked up skirt showing a bit of pale thigh, and up to the bored face of chae hyungwon. she glances at the ball by her feet before bending over to pick it up.

with each step she takes toward him, hoseok feels his heart beat a half step faster. she looks him up and down, mouth twisted in a judgmental frown, and he resists the urge to nervously fix his hair.

"sorr--"

"i guess they let anyone on the basketball team these days," she says, shoving the basketball into hoseok's chest.

he scrambles to get a hold on it and by the time he's sure he's not going to drop it, hyungwon is brushing past him and strutting over to the other side of the gym where the cheerleaders, dressed in burgundy tee shirts and tight black shorts, have gathered for their workshop.

"close your mouth, dude." jooheon steps directly in hoseok's line of sight, blocking hyungwon from view. "she just dissed you and you look like you're ready to fall at her feet."

changkyun eyes the cluster of girls. lee minhyuk brightens up a full one hundred watts when she lays eyes on hyungwon, bouncing over to the other girl and slinging an arm around her neck. "is _dodo_ trying out for the squad? hell has officially frozen over."

a furious blush spread from hoseok's neck to his cheeks and his ears at the image of hyungwon in the burgundy, black, and white tank and mini skirt combo that is their cheerleading uniform, passionately cheering them on from side court and during halftime. "god, i hope so," he says breathily before he collects himself and aims a glare at changkyun. "and stop calling her that."

lifting his hands to signal hoseok to pass the ball, jooheon makes a face. "hoseok, you have to admit she's a huge bit--" he grunts when the basketball slams into his chest.

hoseok watches his teammate and friend rub at his chest without any feeling of remorse. a lot of shit is said behind chae hyungwon's back about her being a frigid bitch who thinks she's better, smarter, prettier than and too good for anyone else. but hoseok doesn't have any of those prejudices - and not just because he thinks she's absolutely gorgeous. hyungwon seems like the kind of girl who doesn't care about artificial relationships, who isn't interested in pretending to be someone she's not for the sake of fitting in, and hoseok respects that. he hates when the guys call her _dodo_ , claiming her straight-forward attitude to be snobbishness, or when they get on his case about liking her. he hates that no one seems to like her when she hasn't even done anything to warrant such a bad reputation.

hyunwoo swoops in to mediate before hoseok can dare jooheon to finish that sentence, picking up the ball that has rolled away from jooheon. tucking it beneath his arm, he places his opposite hand on hoseok's shoulder. "calm down, hoseok."

hoseok wants to emphasize that he is calm, but then hyunwoo is continuing.

"hyungwon isn't trying out for the team and she isn't that bad so give it a rest guys."

jooheon and changkyun nod and mutter the usual 'yes, captain' as they do whenever hyunwoo scolds them, no matter on or off the court. hoseok doesn't say anything because he doesn't feel like he should have to and because he knows their opinions on hyungwon haven't changed. hell, it's not like hyunwoo really cares about her either.

lazily dribbling the ball, hyunwoo calls to the rest of the team loitering on the bleachers, all of their attention on the cheerleaders.

"i know coach isn't here yet but let's get started!"

 

legs crossed at the ankles, hyungwon taps her nails against the metal seat. immersed in a variety of stretches are about ten cheer hopefuls, scattered around the second half of the gym. on the other end, the boys basketball team are half-assing their way through their warm ups as well. sports are the furthest thing from her mind, but they don't seem like complete neanderthals like the football team, although that's a pretty low bar. a literal neanderthal would be less of a neanderthal than any of the roaches on the football team.

missy elliot's 'i'm better' suddenly plays through a speaker and one of the second year math teachers, ms. nam, claps her hands and calls the girls stretching over to the sidelines.

"alright, ladies, some of the varsity team are going to show you part of an old routine. we'll practice it for an hour today and then you'll perform it for tryouts on friday."

the girls all nod enthusiastically, some of them looking more confident than others. hyungwon shakes her head and picks at a chip in her nail polish. if cheer was considered a rhythmic and acrobatic sport then maybe she would join, but that fact that it's largely irrelevant outside the realm of male-oriented sports to anyone not sucked into the genuine world of cheer turns her off completely. she doesn't want to have to act like she gives a single fuck about school spirit or their athletic teams so she can enjoy performing. no, hyungwon is perfectly fine with the small studio she dances with a couple times a week.

five of the varsity members stand in a line, minhyuk and her co-captain, a disconcertingly peppy boy named jung hoseok, taking their places two steps ahead of the others.

jung hoseok's grin stretches wide and he bounces on his heels. "we're going to demonstrate it once before we break it down."

hyungwon doesn't understand how someone can be 'on' all the time.

ms. nam restarts the song and once the first verse starts, the squad starts the routine. hyungwon recognizes it as one they performed in the prep rally mixes last year. she honestly knows too many of their dances and there's no one to blame but lee minhyuk who finds it necessary to show her all of their routines. it's not difficult to her, but when the squad slows down the counts and walks the new girls through the steps, many of them move as if they're being controlled on strings, jerky and awkward.

she doesn't notice the huge grimace on her face until she locks eyes with a tiny girl, probably a first year, and the girl freezes like hyungwon is medusa and just turned her to stone. another girl, taller and with brown highlights running through her black hair, notices and she pats the frozen girl on the shoulder.

"can she leave?" asks the girl with the highlights, pointing at hyungwon who raises her brows. "she's not trying out and she's not on the squad so _why_ is she even here?"

the squad turns around to look at hyungwon who rolls her eyes and uncurls her legs.

"because i want to be? didn't realize i had to have special credentials to sit in the gym of my own school." hyungwon scoffs, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "worry about yourself, sweetheart, because me leaving isn't going to magically give you the ability to dance on beat."

and that, of course, does nothing to alleviate the situation. minhyuk finds it funny (because minhyuk low-key is a hating ass fraud) and the poorly hidden smile on oh sehun's face says she's amused too. everyone else looks at hyungwon like they're all darling angels and she just crawled out of the deepest pits of hell.

standing, hyungwon walks over to the phone connected to a bluetooth speaker a little far down. she looks at the squad and then at ms. nam. "may i?"

"yes, please!" minhyuk all but screeches and hyungwon doesn't wait for anyone else's permission, restarting the song over.

technically, she has an advantage over the other's who are learning the routine for the first time, but even without having seen minhyuk do the choreography a million and one times, she would have performed it just as perfectly.

ms. nam hums appreciatively when she finishes, clapping lightly.

"i've been trying to tell this bitch she needs to join the squad since the ice age," minhyuk stage whispers to their coach.

ms. nam doesn't bat an eyelash at minhyuk's language, nodding. "why _aren't_ you trying out, hyungwon?”

"you should give her detention until she joins," continues minhyuk.

hyungwon gives her friend the stink-eye. "shut up, minhyuk." she nibbles on her lip and glances at the others around her. the girl who was trying to start stuff with her earlier is red with anger and clenches her hands at her sides. well, minhyuk did say to scare the weak girls away.

she doesn't have any intention of joining the squad, but she smirks and says, "maybe i will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on [tumblr](http://chaechaebeatboy.tumblr.com)/[twitter](https://twitter.com/chaechaebeatboy) | [fic notes and extras](http://at-tostitos.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was supposed to finish this by the end of september. it is now october and obviously i'm not done.
> 
> i was going to make kihyun cute and shy but nah i need three wild girls who all affectionately call each other 'bitch' and do nothing but snark at each other

“hyungwon, pleaseeeee.” minhyuk throws herself on the bed, causing them all to bounce.

kihyun snaps her head up, scowl fixed on her face. “could you be a little more graceful, please?” she shoves the wet brush back into the small bottle of black nail polish resting against her leg. there’s a streak of black on the skin of the littlest toe of her left foot.

“sorry,” minhyuk says, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

hyungwon slips off the bed and moves to the tiny bookcase housing minhyuk’s textbooks. there’s a little black bag hanging precariously off the side — minhyuk’s make-up bag — and she opens it, pulling out the cotton pads.

she sighs. “for the last time, minhyuk, no.” passing off the cotton pads to kihyun, she hops onto the bed. crossing her legs in front of her, she drags one of minhyuk’s pillows into her lap. “i said all that just to help that girl have a little more self awareness. do you really think cheerleading fits me?”

unscrewing the top off the polish remover and wetting one of the cotton pads, kihyun hums. “she has a point,” she agrees. “like, yeah, wonnie would fucking kill it but she’d also look like she was ready to actually kill.” she wipes at the polish on her skin, grimacing when it spreads.

minhyuk pouts. “kihyun, if you’re not helping me to convince hyungwon to join the squad, then shut up.”

raising her hands in surrender, blackened cotton pad pinched between her fingers, kihyun pops her lips. “i’ll let the attitude slide just this once.” she continues to clean the polish off her toe. “but more importantly, are we crashing the party this saturday?”

“uh, yes?” minhyuk says like kihyun just asked if grass is green. “i heard the boys tennis team is going and i am ready to see lim hyunsik’s cute ass in some swimming shorts. i’ve been checking out the booty and i can confirm it’s tight.”

hyungwon snorts, rolling her eyes. “you’re a disaster.”

“i’m a young girl with needs. your frigid ass wouldn’t know anything about that.”

sticking out her tongue, hyungwon flips the other girl off and minhyuk curls her hands in a ‘bring it on’ motion before they both crack wide smiles.

flopping onto her stomach — “bitch, i swear i will end you,” kihyun hisses — minhyuk props up one arm and rests her chin in her palm. “speaking of the party, when are we going shopping?”

hyungwon looks at her with a raised brow. “shopping for what?”

“new bathing suits,” both minhyuk and kihyun answer simultaneously, minhyuk sounding excited and kihyun sounding like she’s been unwillingly drafted and sent out to war.

"no one needs a bathing suit. especially not you, _ms. i don't need to know how to swim to own a bathing suit for every season_ ," hyungwon says, narrowing her eyes at minhyuk.

"but i don't." minhyuk half-shrugs.

"well, then what do you do with a winter bathing suit? get a sun tan in a blanket of snow?"

"get in the kiddie pool at the community center and stage thot pics for instagram," kihyun answers, neatly finishing her toes and closing the bottle of polish.

"wow, what a concept," hyungwon says blandly as minhyuk screams, "don't spread lies," and reaches out to slap kihyun's shin.

she goes for hyungwon next as the youngest girl begins to slow-clap, snatching the pillow out of hyungwon's lap and throwing it in her face.

"that never leaves this room." minhyuk points at hyungwon and then kihyun, glaring at them threateningly.

she's not actually worried about them spilling that secret all of them are steadfastly loyal to one another as bffs for at least the rest of high school and both of them know it because kihyun just sucks her teeth and hyungwon hums as she picks at the dirt under her nails.

"and we're still going shopping."

 

"did we have to go today?"

hyungwon looks over at minhyuk as the three of them stand outside of one of many clothing stores in the local mall.

there are signs up advertising summer sales and buy one get ones on almost every rack and shelf.

it's definitely minhyuk's type of place — all of the clothes are in trend and the mannequins actually look good. hyungwon likes to look cute, but she can do that without paying for overpriced clothes just for the brand name.

"it's not like you have anything better to do," replies minhyuk as she walks into the store, leaving the other two girls behind.

hyungwon and kihyun meet eyes, both mirroring the same sense of resignation. there’s really no stopping minhyuk once she’s got her wallet out.

nibbling on her bottom lip, hyungwon sighs through her nose. "i love her but she gets on my last nerve."

kihyun snorts. "that's because you don't have any nerves." she loops her arm into hyungwon's and together they enter the store.

minhyuk is already in the back where the swimsuits are arranged, holding up a pink one-piece with brown accents, her mouth twisted in an appraising frown.

hyungwon is ready to compliment on how cute it is when minhyuk turns it over in her hands. "you are _not_ wearing a thong to the party."

"yes, sister mary," minhyuk says robotically, not at all listening. she then mumbles, "i don't know how i feel about this pink."

"you," hyungwon unhooks her arm from kihyun's and snatches the swimsuit out of minhyuk's hands. she slams the hanger down onto the rack behind her, uncaring of if that's not where it goes, "are not wearing a thong to the party."

minhyuk turns to her with the signature pout but hyungwon holds strong. the last thing anyone needs is minhyuk running around with her butt out.

“it’s not for me. it’s for you.”

hyungwon scoffs out a sarcastic, “ha,” that builds into full-blown, almost hysteric laughter. turning over her shoulder, she looks at kihyun flipping through another rack of bikini separates. “this bitch actually though she was going to get me in that,” she says through her cackling. “she’s lost her mind.”

“you’d look so cute, though.” minhyuk whines, crossing her arms over her chest. “you’d just wear a huge t-shirt over it anyway. how sexy would it be if you bent over or the shirt flew up and then bam! ripe ass?”

kihyun snorts, holding up a strapless, sunshine yellow bathing suit top to her front.

“i don’t know what kind of effect you want my ‘ripe’ ass to have, but it probably wouldn’t happen considering everyone already thinks i’m a conceited, grade A bitch.” hyungwon doesn’t even want to imagine the reaction to her showing up to a party she was technically wasn't invited to in a skimpy one piece. everyone already talks shit about how she rolls her uniform skirt up as if they don’t all do the same thing. if she’s going to crash a party, she at least wants to enjoy some of it.

“they’re half right,” kihyun quips, stepping over to look in the nearby mirror and conveniently moving out of hyungwon’s reach before she can get hit.

at the same time, minhyuk hums conspiratorially. “i don’t know,” she sings. a huge grin stretches her cheeks. “word on the street is that one of the boy’s on the basketball team is pretty into you.”

hyungwon rolls her eyes. as big of a gossip as minhyuk is, half the time any of the rumors she hears about are almost completely false. you can’t trust high schoolers to not embellish a story. if anything, the boy in question probably looked at her for a second too long and everyone jumped to conclusions.

“i doubt it,” the tall girl mutters, slipping around minhyuk to look at the single boy short-cute swimsuit bottoms.

  

hoseok lifts the replacement tub of ice cream with a grunt and fits it into the open slot behind the laminated card reading ‘mango tango’. the small ice cream shop he works at is usually full of people in the summer, but the sun quickly disappeared an hour ago and was replaced with a relentless downpour that doesn’t look like it’ll let up any time soon. the local dairy they use in their ice cream makes it damn good but it’s definitely not delicious enough to make people fight the elements to get it.

there’s a middle aged man looking at their refrigerator holding the ice cream cakes — hoseok’s heard him muttering to himself about a birthday party and rabid children — and two college aged men who illegally parked in front of the fire hydrant right outside the doors, chattering about a mutual lecture as they finish their cones. it’s due to be an easy shift and hyuna, the college junior he sometimes works this shift with, already ditched him.

as he checks the other bins to make sure they don’t need replacing as well, the little bell above the door chimes, signaling the arrival or departure of a customer. he glances up to see which of the two it is and he freezes when it’s chae hyungwon his eyes land on.

she’s absolutely soaked, looking like a wet cat with her hair plastered to her face and a sour frown. her fitted, light grey shirt has darkened to near black color and her — wow, those legs — blue denim shorts drip like a leaky faucet. her bag, at least, looks like it’s waterproof.

he watches as she approaches the counter with her arms wrapped around her chest. it’s hot out, humid too, but he’s worried. what was she doing out without an umbrella? is she going to stay until the rain lets up? should he turn off the air conditioning? do they have any towels? would they be clean?

“are you going to ask what i want or are you just going to stare at me like i’m a fucking ghost?”

snapping back to reality, hoseok flinches. “huh? a-ah, i’m sorry. what can i get for you?” his voice cracking has a blush warming his face.

hyungwon doesn’t seem the least bit endeared by his nerves, her frown deepening further. tightening her arms around her chest, hyungwon quickly glances at the assortment of flavors before ordering, “one scoop of vanilla and one of strawberry banana in a cup.”

her order, simple and kind of unexpected, makes hoseok smile. he wipes down the counter and plucks a pink and yellow stripped cup from the stack next to the waffle cones.

"any toppings?" he asks, feeling a boost of confidence when his voice doesn't waver.

hyungwon purses her lips adorably as her eyes flit over to the list of add-ins they offer. "rainbow sprinkles." she pauses. "and then more sprinkles on top of that."

hoseok's smile broadens at the cute request.

he doesn't get to interact with hyungwon very often, with them being in different classes and having no mutual friends. he's not intimidated by her, not like everyone else, but he’s never wanted to make her uncomfortable by going up to her out of the blue and unsolicited. so he cherishes this moment, even if he is only learning that she really likes sprinkles.

he fixes her cup of ice cream, drowning it in the multicolored sugar bits as requested. sticking a yellow spoon down the side, he holds it out for her to take.

delicate fingers brush against his as she does so. 

"thanks," she says. the hint of a smile on her face as she looks at the dessert makes hoseok's heart beat quicken.

part of him feels pathetic at his body's reaction because she isn't even directing the smile at him but, at the same time, it's worth it. she's always in defense mode at school — and he doesn't blame her for that at all, not when he hears the words said behind her back — even when her friends are around. this is the most relaxed he’s ever seen her and that says a lot considering how drenched and uncomfortable she must be.

“y-you’re welcome,” he stutters and inwardly curses how star-struck he sounds.

sitting the cup down on the counter, hyungwon swings her gym bag around and unzips it. from the inside, she pulls out a pale yellow wallet, printed with the cartoons of the LINE characters. she opens it and then glances up at hoseok through her soaked bangs.

 _god, she’s so pretty_ , is the only thing running through hoseok’s mind, although a niggling voice in the back of his head tells him that he’s forgetting something.

“are you new at this job?” she asks.

hoseok shakes his head immediately. “i’ve worked here since the spring.”

hyungwon clicks her tongue. “then why haven’t you rung up the total, yet?”

“what?" he squawks stupidly. "ah, shit, sorry. i’m not usually so distracted. i swear i…” hoseok bites down on his lip to stop himself from rambling as he quickly punches in the order on the register. between this and completely missing a shot he usually makes no problem during practice, he’s really doing a terrible job at staying cool when he’s around her. “sorry. that’ll be three thousand, five hundred won.”

as she slips out a few bills from her wallet, hoseok notices her shiver and he frowns.

“um, okay, so this might sound weird,” hoseok starts, eloquent as ever, “but would you like to borrow my hoodie?” at hyungwon’s single eyebrow raise, he falters. “it’s just…you’re wet and it’s cold in here and it’s still raining out there and you’re about to eat ice cream and i swear it’s clean so you don’t have to worry about that,” he finishes in one breath.

hyungwon blinks slowly at him, confusion stamped on her face. “um, no, that’s oka—”

“i honestly don’t mind. and i would feel like shit if i found out you got sick.”

it seems like hyungwon actually looks at him for the first time, dragging her gaze from his head to where the counter cuts him in half. she starts to pout but stops, asking, “do i know you?”

and that question shouldn’t hurt, but man, it does.

“not exactly? we go to the same school. i’m hoseok. in class 3-C. you essentially said i was shit at basketball two days ago before the cheer thing?”

he waits for recognition to shine in her eyes but it never comes. that kind of hurts too.

“did i?” she wonders more to herself than to him. “and…you’re still offering me your jacket?”

hoseok nods, hating how confused she sounds about the face that he would do something like that. she should never have to feel like a simple nicety isn’t deserved.

she stares at him for a moment longer before looking down at the money in her hands. when she lifts her head again, her usual frown is back in place and her gaze is filled with suspicion.

“keep it,” she says. she holds out the few bills and as soon as they leave her hand, she picks up her cup of ice cream and walks out of the shop to stand under the awning, just barely sheltered from the rain.

mouth hanging open in surprise, hoseok simply stares at her back. what did he do? should he have pretended they didn’t go to the same school?

shoving her money into the register, hoseok takes her change and drops it into the tip jar.

a few minutes later, a tiny silver car pulls up to the curb and hyungwon hops in the passenger seat. he’s still worried, but at the very least, hoseok feels better that she isn’t walking out in that weather anymore.

sighing, he slouches over the counter.

maybe he’ll try to convince her that she doesn’t have to be wary of him tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

hyungwon doesn’t know how she ends up at cheer tryouts on friday afternoon, standing in line with the girls who were there for the workshop. she remembers the bell signaling the end of the day ringing and then getting up to collect her stuff so she could leave the horrible day prison. she remembers dropping by kihyun’s classroom to say bye. and then it’s as if she suddenly blacked out and woke up standing fully stable and dressed in her gym sweats in a line with eight other girls in front of the mass of the cheer squad.

minhyuk is chatting with jung hoseok, the both of them gesturing wildly. hyungwon is surprised neither of them accidentally pop each other in the face.

it’s probably her fault that hyungwon is there, some kind of anime magical girl-like witchcraft that minhyuk has casted upon her in order to get her on the squad.

the girls around her who are eager to try out look like they’ve already become best friends, smiling and giggling and boosting each other up with encouraging words. it’s cute, but hyungwon tunes them all out after the first time she hears her name whispered in the middle of a conversation.

she doesn’t know any of these girls (and has no intention of getting to know these girls), but she hates people like them — people who have the audacity to say things behind someone’s back (or when they’re literally a few steps away) but are too afraid to say it to straight and face to face. it’s funny, kind of, because as much as people cower when hyungwon levels them with a glare or strikes them with sharp words, that’s all she can do. she’s not going to challenge anyone to a fight but they treat her like she’s a lit fuse, ready to explode.

picking at a bit of dirt under her nails, hyungwon sighs. there’s so much noise and she doesn’t want to hear any of it. even the basketball team is having practice and adding to the racket.

with the nail of her index finger wedged under that of the opposite hand’s pinky, hyungwon turns over her shoulder to look at the other half of the gym.

he said he was on the basketball team, didn’t he? the airheaded boy from the ice cream shop outside the dance studio she takes classes at?

she still doesn’t know what to feel about that encounter. aside from hoseok — she’s surprised she even remembers his name — being terrible at his job, he was…weird. there are many kids who know hyungwon when she can’t say the same and out of those kids there are a few who have pretended to be nice to her just to stab her in the back later. that’s why hyungwon hasn’t gone out of her way to make new friends in about a year.

hoseok was too nice, too genuine to actually be concerned for her health. no one cares that much about someone they don’t know, especially if she did insult his basketball skills. and he was such a good actor too, fidgeting adorably and looking at her as if she was sunshine breaking through that dreary day; she almost fell for his act. thankfully, she knows better.

half of the team is playing while the other half watches, coach jeon pointing out whatever basketball coaches point out to their players. hyungwon notices him immediately on the sidelines with a water bottle held up to his lips as he nods at whatever coach jeon is saying.

huh, so he wasn’t lying about that at least.

one of the guys standing next to hoseok leans over to whisper in his ear as he takes a sip and what he says makes hoseok choke on his water. he erupts into a coughing fit, his teammate laughing giddily beside him. and then he’s looking over and scanning the cheer tryouts.

hyungwon can’t help but frown when they lock eyes and hoseok gives her a small smile.

“okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation,” minhyuk calls, clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention.

turning away from the boy, hyungwon looks at her friend as she explains how the tryouts will work.

“honestly, why is she still here?”

hyungwon doesn’t pay attention to the low hiss of annoyance until it continues with more voices.

“did she really believe ms. nam when she said she could get on varsity? as fucking if. she’s not even that good of a dancer.”

rolling her eyes, hyungwon crosses her arms over her chest and swallows down a scoff.

“i know! and did you see her glaring at the basketball team just now?”

“it’s so sad that minhyuk pretends to be her friend, like, i wish dodo would realize no one actually likes her and fuck off.”

flipping her hair over her shoulder, hyungwon moves from her spot to get closer to where minhyuk and jung hoseok are still explaining. as she passes the gossiping bunch, she sighs, sounding every bit like a bored heiress.

“must suck being so insecure about how cripplingly mediocre you are that you have to try to tear down people who wouldn't be able to tell you apart from the next girl just to make yourself feel better,” she says airily, not even sparing them a glance as she goes.

“excuse me?!” one of the girls yells after her.

“excuse _me_ ,” jung hoseok steps forward, raising his own voice, “but if you three have more important things to talk about while we’re trying to hold tryouts, then you can go.”

“but dodo-!”

“we’re not talking about hyungwon right now,” minhyuk cuts in. “she hasn’t been chit-chatting and not paying attention. please do not waste our time; we have six other girls here trying to get on the squad.”

hyungwon sucks on the inside of her lip as she feigns innocence while internally she grins so hard her cheeks hurt.

 

hoseok can’t even appreciate the way changkyun fakes hyunwoo out and drives all the way to the hoop for a layup, all of his attention on the tryouts on the other side of gym (aka chae hyungwon). she stands off to the side along with the other two girls she’ll be auditioning with, ignoring them both in favor of boredly watching the three girls currently auditioning. whatever drama that had come up was quickly put to rest by minhyuk and hoseok, all of the girls who were called out backing down with a threat to be kicked out.

hyungwon never looked bothered by the confrontation, her usual frown set on her face, but that didn’t stop hoseok from feeling a rush of anger toward those girls. he knew she wasn’t doing anything, had been watching her and wondering if she finally recognized him and trying to quell his hope at that possibility.

“hoseok!”

coach jeon’s booming, surround sound yell drags hoseok back into practice.

“you can check out the girls later. focus!”

a blush creeps over hoseok’s cheeks at the accusation but he doesn’t bother denying it, knowing it’s better to just nod his head and apologize.

he gets thrown into a practice game with a reminder that they have a casual game against a neighboring high school in two weeks.

the entire time he plays, he does so with one eye on the auditions (hyungwon).

when her name is called, along with the other two in her small group, hoseok perks up. as much as he’s worried about her getting along with the other cheerleaders, he would love for her to get on the squad, if only because of his selfish desire to have her see him play.

running to lose jooheon who has been blocking him on defense, hoseok shoots a quick glance to the other side of the gym and freezes when hyungwon looks over as she switches spots with the group who just auditioned.

“hoseok!”

he doesn't turn back all the way before the basketball slams into his chest and he stumbles back, the air punched straight out of his lungs.

hands flying up to cradle his chest, he coughs violently. “shit, ow.”

coach jeon groans as he once again shouts at hoseok to get his head in the game.

rubbing just below his heart and trying to catch his breath, hoseok hangs back as the game continues around him. he spares another quick peek over at the tryouts but hyungwon has already turned her back as oh sehun asks the girls if they’re ready, the music cutting on a second later.

he flushes a furious, embarrassed red at the realization that she most absolutely saw him get pelted. goodness, as if she needed more reasons to think he was an uncoordinated mess.

but he can’t dwell on how awful his first, second, and now third impressions have been, not when coach jeon looks like he’s about to doom hoseok to the bench for the entire fall season. his friends would never let him live it down if he was benched because of his crush.

 

the tryouts end before his practice does and hoseok tunes out of coach jeon’s explanations of plays and advice on how to fix their weak points when he picks up on jeon jungkook, the other boy on the cheer squad and coach jeon’s son, telling the auditioning girls that they’ll find out if they made the squad in a week.

slowly, the girls gather their things and trickle out of the gym as the squad clumps together for an early deliberation. hyungwon stands off to the side, book bag sitting at her feet as she scrolls through her phone. she doesn’t look up until the squad parts ways and minhyuk bounces up to her.

before anyone can notice he’s not paying attention, hoseok tries to temporarily erase the girl from his mind even if the only thing he can think about it how much he wants to talk to her. is she feeling okay after being out in the rain? does she really want to join the squad? does she remember who he is?

he steadfastly keeps his eyes on his coach’s wildly gesturing hands as hyungwon and minhyuk walk past to leave the gym, minhyuk enthusiastically talking about the beach party tomorrow.

immediately, his flimsy attempt at staying focused is crushed.

they’re going to a beach party tomorrow? the beach party thrown by the tennis team? the beach party hoseok told hyunsik he probably was going to skip out on? _that_ beach party?

 _hoseok, you_ have _to go_ , he tells himself.

and apparently the rest of the basketball team as well.

“you have to go where?” hyunwoo asks, just one confused face out of many.

searching for something to latch onto, hoseok stutters. “to, um, the bathroom. i’ve been holding it in.”

“why didn’t you just go?” changkyun scrunches up his brows and purses his lips. “geez, man, you’ve been out of it all day.”

and because he’s gotten this far, hoseok glances questioningly at coach jeon who waves him off in the hopes of getting back on track.

hoseok is totally starting on the bench for all of their upcoming games.

jogging out of the gym as if he really needs to hit the restroom, hoseok almost runs into hyungwon and minhyuk outside of its doors.

“…ou know kiki would cut a bitch for yo-” minhyuk stops mid-sentence when she notices hoseok. she smiles at him politely. “hey.”

hoseok tries not to linger on hyungwon as he lifts his hand in a wave and returns, “hey.”

hyungwon's hand seems to lift slightly. it hardly makes it above her waist before she jerks it back down but the jerky action still rockets hoseok off earth and into the clouds.

that was a wave, right? she started to wave back, _right_?

sniffing, hyungwon gives him a miniscule nod before brushing her hair out of his face and staring out the window on the other side of the hallway.

“good luck with putting together the new squad,” he says to minhyuk. hyungwon still isn’t looking when his eyes find her again. “and i’m glad you didn’t catch a cold, hyungwon.”

a sigh comes from the tall girl, followed by a light frown. “i wasn’t outside for long,” she mutters.

his heart flutters as a pleased smile lifts the corners of his mouth and rounds shy, pink cheeks.

even though he was sure he offended her in some way back at his job, she didn’t shut him down this time! or ignore him!

straightening her back, hyungwon grabs minhyuk’s arm and rushes her along. “let’s go. i told my mom i’d pick up groceries on the way home.”

minhyuk is the only one who says goodbye as she and hyungwon walk away but hoseok doesn’t mind at all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love these girls! i love hoseok! am i allowed to have these feelings about my own story?

hoseok laughs as eunkwang shoves his can of coke into his hands and watches amongst the other members of the boy’s tennis team as the captain strips down to his underwear. to raucous cheering, eunkwang races to the calmly rolling waves and crashes into the water, screaming the entire time. it's just like the other boy to forget his swimming trunks to a beach party he and his team planned.

"ooh, look. i guess the queen b decided to grace us with her presence," sungjae calls out, nodding his head up the beach toward the boardwalk.

turning to look, hoseok's laughter dies out and his breath catches in his chest as his eyes fall on hyungwon and her friends. he thought he was ready to see her but now that she's here, he realizes that he's definitely not.

she's cute, with her hair tied up in a loose bun and her bathing suit covered by an oversized t-shirt that falls to the middle of her thighs.

a part of him expected her to show up in ordinary clothes - like eunkwang but on purpose - sure she was only going because minhyuk dragged her here but that is apparently not the case.

"you gotta admit she's kinda hot, though."

hoseok's mouth, which had been hanging open stupidly in his daze, clamps shut at ilhoon's words. he glances at the younger boy out of the corner of his eye, a frown gradually settling on his face as a sleazy grin grows on ilhoon's.

"she's probably a great lay."

peniel laughs. "if you like 'em bossy, maybe. her cheerleader friend on the other hand is cute."

"bossy chicks are hot, dude. it'd be so satisfying to see her lose all that attitude and start begging."

"it's nice to have dreams 'cause i bet she would never look your way," the other lee minhyuk jumps in with a smirk as he takes a sip of his can of the wine seltzer someone smuggled in with the soda.

ilhoon raises his eyebrows at the challenge. "i'll totally go for it."

hoseok doesn't realize he's crushing eunkwang's soda in his hands or that he's taken a step toward ilhoon until hyunwoo is sliding in front of him and placing a placating hand on his shoulder.

"why don't we find changkyun and jooheon," hyunwoo suggests, turning hoseok around and guiding him away from the group of guys.

"i can't just let ilhoon talk about her like that." hoseok scowls. he has half a mind to throw eunkwang's soda but doesn't, knowing it's better to dispose of it properly. he also has half a mind to shrug off hyunwoo's hands and throw his fist in ilhoon's face.

hyunwoo squeezes his shoulders and continues pushing him down the beach, through other clumps of students. "you're not her boyfriend, hoseok."

"that doesn't matter. i don't want to fight him because i like her; i want to fight him because she deserves more respect than that."

rather than finding their friends, changkyun and jooheon find them, running up from close to the water.

jooheon takes one look at hoseok and his grin falters. "what happened?"

sighing, hoseok runs a hand through his hair. a group of guys he recognizes from the football team walk past and he grabs one by them by the arm. "take this, please." he shoves the soda can into jongin's hands.

jongin looks at him confusedly but doesn't question it as he continues to walk with his friends.

hands now free, hoseok crosses his arms over his chest and tries to calm down. "nothing happened," he answers jooheon. sweeping his eyes over the section of the beach his school took over, he searches for hyungwon in the crowd.

as he does so, he hears hyunwoo whisper to the other two: "keep him away from the tennis guys, please."

"okay, but what happened?" changkyun questions, whispering too.

hoseok finds hyungwon lying stretched out on a rainbow colored towel, her legs crossed at the ankles. minhyuk is looking in his direction and he offers her a smile when she waves at him.

 

"oh my god. he _is_ here and he's looking over right now." minhyuk looks down at hyungwon, slapping her back excitedly.

hyungwon returns the hitting with a hard slap to minhyuk's bare thigh. "hit me one more time, bitch, i dare you," she threatens with a glare. before settling on her forearms again, she tucks a pesky stray strand of hair that doesn't fit into her bun behind her ear. "what does it matter that he's looking? he could be looking at anything."

"but he's _not_." minhyuk straddles hyungwon's back and shakes her by the shoulders. "ugh, i knew you should have bought the thong." before rolling off hyungwon, minhyuk slaps her butt.

turning over onto her back, hyungwon sits up and curls her legs in front of her. "shut up about the thong." she flicks sand at minhyuk.

as much as she says she doesn't care, she still glances up in the direction of hoseok and his friends. the boy isn't looking at her when she spies him but, as if he has some kind of alert system that goes off whenever someone looks at him, he quickly turns around to look at her.

he jumps a little, obviously surprised to see her looking, and then the most precious tiny smile breaks over his face. hyungwon almost smiles back but she stops herself.

she still doesn't trust him...but at the same time there's a part of her that wants to believe he's not the type who would be interested in her solely for her looks.

"he's cute, though," kihyun comments. "his tall friend is in your class, right? why don't you ask about him?"

"because i'm not interested?" hyungwon says as she faces her friends again. "and i doubt hyunwoo would say anything."

the tall boy is too quiet and stoic; he's probably great at keeping secrets. the most they say to each other in class is to warn one another of their long legs or ask for a lost pencil to be passed back.

both minhyuk and kihyun raise their left eyebrows at the same time.

"you stared at him for a full minute just now but you're not interested?" kihyun pops her lips and brings up her hand to inspect her nails. "okay, hun," she says, sarcastic disbelief clear in her voice.

hyungwon frowns. "i did _not_ stare at him."

"did she stare at him?" kihyun stage whispers to minhyuk without taking her eyes off her nails.

minhyuk hums in the affirmative. "oh, it was definitely a stare."

sucking her teeth, hyungwon rolls onto her feet and stands. "whatever. think what you want."

minhyuk and kihyun burst into giggles and reach for her, saying they're just playing around, and hyungwon knows that but it doesn't stop her from stepping around them and leaving their spot.

careful not to get too close to anyone, she walks to the edge of the beach and lets the water run over her toes. her boy short-style swim bottoms are creeping in between her cheeks. slipping her fingers beneath her shirt, she pinches the bottom hem and tugs them down slightly as she wiggles her legs, hoping they readjust.

"what's up?"

hyungwon glances over at the voice that can only be directed at her and gives a very disinterested look to the boy smiling at her. she has no idea who he is, but she also isn't very good with faces and names. without returning his greeting, she looks back out toward the sunset.

"all alone?" he asks, either not getting the hint that she's not interested in talking or not caring.

sighing, hyungwon shifts her weight onto her left foot and crosses her arms over her chest. "no."

"come with your boyfriend?" he moves in front of her then.

she doesn't miss the way his eyes scan her up and down with interest. "who i came with isn't any of your business."

he grins. "so, no boyfriend then. but you're playing hard to get. i like that."

hyungwon wets her lips and the boy's eyes follow the swipe of her tongue. he steps into her space and places a heavy hand on her waist.

she looks down at it with bored eyes.

"i've always thought you were cute. why don't we get to know each other, hm? i'm ilhoon."

wrapping a delicate hand around his wrist, she moves his hand off her body. "i don't really give a fuck, to be honest."

he pouts and twists their hands until he's holding hers. "aw, don't be like that, beautiful."

"excuse me?"

ilhoon looks around hyungwon at the girl who has walked up to them.

"yes, hello, hi." kihyun's voice goes from bright and cheery to impossibly deep and hyungwon knows the dark look the other girl must have in her eyes right now. "back off."

ilhoon raises an eyebrow. "and who are you? we're kinda busy."

kihyun scoffs a fake laugh as she comes closer. "oh, i'm so rude. where are my manners?" she sticks her hand out as if offering a handshake. "i'm the bitch who's gonna put you in the hospital if you don't back the fuck off. pleased to make your acquaintance."

ilhoon gets this amused look on his face and hyungwon grimaces.

that's a rookie mistake.

before he can laugh, kihyun's grips his forearm and digs her nails deep into his skin. he yells out a curse as she rips him away from hyungwon and the taller girl immediately sidesteps to put some more space between them. knowing how scrappy kihyun is, hyungwon doesn't want to be too close by in case hands start flying.

"kick his ass, ki!" minhyuk cheers with a whoop from behind them.

it would also unfortunately be up to her to stop the fight since minhyuk is obviously choosing to instigate.

kihyun drags ilhoon down to her height until she can sneer in his face. "don't test me, kid. i will murder you in cold blood and there will be nothing anyone else can do to stop me." she threatens under breath.

hyungwon doesn't know why she expected this party to go without issue when she agreed to come.

ilhoon must feel the hidden strength in kihyun's grip or accurately read the violent intent in her eyes (or both) because he flinches back, color draining from his face, instead of getting aggressive back.

as soon as kihyun releases him, he retreats back to his group of friends who seem to be more amused at what just happened than concerned.

hyungwon crosses her arms over her chest and sighs when she notices everyone looking. wonderful. this is all anyone is going to talk about for the next couple of weeks at school. 

kihyun walks over to her and wraps an arm around her back. "are you okay?"

glancing at her friend, hyungwon nods. she was more annoyed than she was afraid, knowing he could only get but so pushy on a decently populated beach with a lifeguard just a good scream away. "yeah, i'm fine thanks to my hero." she drops her arms in order to pretend to swoon and lets out a small laugh when kihyun shoves her.

"actually," kihyun points to a spot away from where minhyuk is falling back onto their towels, "we weren't paying attention until we overheard your basketball player arguing with his friends about if that kid was hurting you. so i guess you should thank him too."

hoseok's attention is currently on where the tennis team is gathered and heckling ilhoon and hyungwon is surprised to see how angry he looks when she glances over at him.

she nibbles at her lip.

maybe...

 

"i can't believe it was the short one who scared him away," jooheon comments as twists off the cap to his water bottle.

changkyun nods enthusiastically in agreement. "yeah, if anyone was going to jump to dodo's defense, i expected it to be minhyuk."

hoseok doesn't squish changkyun's face into the sand but he does kick the back of his leg and send him sprawling into the warm grains. "stop calling her that," he hisses, still upset at ilhoon trying to make a move on hyungwon.

a part of him feels bad for not warning the girls about him (although he was hoping ilhoon wouldn't actually make the attempt) but, all in all, he's glad they noticed what was going on. as sharp around the edges as hyungwon is, she's still vulnerable. if he wasn't worried about crossing a line, he would have rushed to help her. he doesn't doubt that she can take care of herself, but he also knows she isn't a fighter and strays away from physical confrontations.

before changkyun can grumble about hoseok being too protective, jooheon nudges hoseok and nods at something behind him.

hyungwon walks up to them with a single arm crossed over her stomach and the light breeze playing with the stray strands of her hair, looking everything like a goddess in a white robe with the sun setting behind her. she slows down as she gets close, stopping a short distance away, and lifts her hand to beckon him over.

hoseok takes the few steps over to her, giving into her desires and putting some space between them and his friends. he can't help the way his eyes travel over her, looking for some sort damage caused by ilhoon's wandering hands (and maybe checking her out but only a little bit!). when he makes it back up to her face, she's wearing a light frown and hoseok panics at the possibility of her being disgusted by his looking.

"thank you," she says suddenly.

thrown off, hoseok struggles to find something to say, his mouth moving and forming words although no sound comes out. she raises an eyebrow and hoseok forces himself to stutter out a response. "f-for what?"

her frown deepens and then she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth to chew on it. her eyes flicker over his face.

hoseok tells himself he's imagining things when her gaze goes soft.

"i heard you were worried about me."

he shakes his head, wondering how she could have known that. "but i didn't do anything to help."

she wraps her other arm around her waist, hugging herself. she averts her gaze away from his. "it's not your responsibility to. but...i don't know, just...thank you."

warmth and an overwhelming want to hug her fill hoseok from head to toe. he clasps his hands behind his back so he doesn't fidget. "you really don't have to thank me, hyungwon. as long as you're okay, i don't need it," he says honestly, unable to help his fond smile.

hyungwon slowly glances at him again, once again teething at her lip.

for a minute, they look at each other wordlessly. hoseok lets himself get lost in her beauty, his heart thumping more and more vigorously with every second that passes between them.

then she shakes her head and takes a step back.

"okay." hyungwon shuffles back again. "um...see you?"

hoseok tries not to shoot off into the clouds and over the moon at the fact she just told him 'see you' instead of 'bye' or simply walking off without another word.

nodding, he can't help his grin. "y-yeah! see you."

 

"i'm so proud of you for talking to him all by yourself." minhyuk teases when hyungwon returns to where she and kihyun were spying on her and hoseok.

dropping down onto the towel, hyungwon yanks out the band holding her hair up just so she can run stressed fingers through it.

kihyun narrows her eyes at her. "what's wrong?

hyungwon shakes her head. "nothing. he's just..." she folds her legs into her chest and hugs them, hunching over to rest her chin on her knees. "really sweet."

immediately both minhyuk and kihyun are crowding into her personal space with matching grins.

"no," hyungwon says before either of them can open their mouths.

minhyuk sniffs the air. "do you smell that, ki?"

turning up her nose as well, kihyun smirks. "i think i do! are you smelling a crush?"

"no."

"i'm smelling a huge, smelly crush!" minhyuk screams a sharp noise as she bangs her fist on hyungwon's arm repeatedly and excitedly. "oh my god. i cannot believe this."

"you shouldn't because it's not. a. crush," hyungwon hisses and pushes minhyuk away from her, a deep frown overtaking her lips. "he's nice. that's it. what? i can't compliment someone without liking them too." she huffs, fanning her face at the summer heat.

sure, she can admit that maybe hoseok is genuinely a decent guy but she doesn't know him and he doesn't know her.

they're not friends and hyungwon doesn't see why that would change.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this chapter is short and nothing special. my new years resolution is to update something once a week and this was the closest thing i could pass off as being done because i can't fail my resolution not even a month in
> 
> there's probably all kinds of typos in this rip me

“hyunwoo.”

hyungwon stops the tower of a boy in the hallway with a small tug to the sleeve of his uniform blazer as he walks past where she was leaning against the window. there is still tiredness in her eyes despite her trailing into the classroom late in the middle of second period and she rubs at them with balled fists.

they’ve sat next to each other for the past two months, through two different assigned seating arrangements, but outside of group discussions in class, their conversations don’t exceed three sentences. they’ve never had a reason to talk for longer and hyunwoo isn’t the type to spark up small talk without a greater motive.

so, he looks down the short distance at her with a raised brow.

“did i miss anything in first period?” she asks, peeking up at him with one eye as she continues to rub at the other. “i saw the worksheet in my desk, but are there notes or something?”

it’s probably because hoseok has found a way to slip the girl into every one of their conversations since the party, but hyunwoo feels a strange sort of annoyance at the invasive eyes of the other students in the hallway and a particularly loud stage whisper of 'ew, is dodo going after hyunwoo now too?'.

he's always been aware of how everyone has turned against the girl for reasons unknown and from sitting next to her, he knows she isn't a bad person. she's a little too honest, defensive maybe, with a strong potty mouth that makes her sound mean but she's mostly quiet. she keeps to herself and is conscious of not getting in anyone's way. she smiles sometimes when her friends are around and it's a nice smile, pretty, but definitely one she keeps hidden more often than not. hyunwoo knows she's an ok girl who is, technically, facing unjust bullying from her entire school; he just never bothered to do anything about it.

the image of hyungwon as dodo is so heavily accepted by everyone that there isn't a point in trying. and yeah, that sounds like a shitty excuse for bystander effect but to hyunwoo, that's just the way it is.

trying to ignore the stares and whispers, hyunwoo focuses on the slightly shorter girl.

"we mostly reviewed chapter nine but did start chapter ten towards the end. i could...lend you my notes,” he offers, idly scratching at the back of his neck.

a mixed group of students walk by them, talking amongst themselves as they pass by too close. hyungwon doesn’t react when the first girl bumps into her, their shoulders knocking together, but the second time it happens, the next girl slamming into her with a force that can’t be written off as accidental, she exhales a controlled breath but doesn’t hold back the glare that darkens her eyes.

they don’t turn back to look at her and she doesn’t say anything to them.

“thank you,” she says after returning her attention to hyunwoo who feels like he should comfort her somehow but doesn’t know what to do.

he nods.

“i can give them to you at the end of the day.”

“okay.” hyungwon nods. she doesn’t smile, but he thinks he can hear a bit of gratefulness in her voice.

before a silence has time to settle between them, hyungwon is turning around, her hair flying with the sharp pivot. one glance at the clock shows they only have three minutes or so before third period begins but she walks down the hall, ignores all of the eyes following her, and slips into a classroom that must belong to one of her friends.

shaking his head, hyunwoo sighs. just as he starts to shuffle back into their classroom, an arm falls on his shoulder.

“yo, hyunwoo,” chanyeol, from the football team, calls out with a grin that takes up his entire face. he nods down the hall. “didn’t think you’d be the type to hop on dodo.”

hyunwoo frowns and side-eyes the kid he wouldn’t even call an acquaintance. he shrugs the other boy’s arm off his shoulder.

chanyeol doesn’t notice his discomfort. why would he? after all, no one thinks there is someone who may actually care about hyungwon. plenty of people think her friends are treating her like a charity case and even he and his own friends think hoseok is a little weird for how much he cares for her.

“tell me if she’s good, yeah? we’ve been trying to find out from the tennis team but they just laugh when we ask.”

“chanyeol, get the fuck out of my face.”

the other boy recoils at the warning in his voice, smile vanishing completely. he raises his hands placatingly.

without waiting for chanyeol to say anything else, knowing that nothing he could say would be decent enough, hyunwoo cuts around him and walks into his classroom. he finds his seat and falls into it heavily. frowning, he spares a glance to the empty desk to his left belonging to hyungwon.

maybe hoseok has a point.

 

“did you go to the beach party?"

"ugh, no. my mom wouldn't let me. but i can't believe ilhoon let dodo go down on him."

"i heard that bitch offered to fuck him too but then someone came into the bathroom. she always pretends she's so above everyone else when she's just a huge-"

hyungwon hears the sharp gasp and catches the flinch on the edges of her peripherals as the pair of girls walk out of their classroom and spot her standing outside the door, back pressed against the wall as she fiddles with the peeling brown and cony sticker plastered on the back of her phone.

 _keep going. call me a slut_ , she dares them in her mind but keeps as quiet as they do, staring them down as they scurry past with their heads down. she waits until they're a decent distance away before she sighs and ducks into the empty classroom.

she's been hearing stuff like that all day. the finer details of the story change with each retelling but the main topic is the same - chae hyungwon blatantly hooked up with some kid named ilhoon at the beach party.

honestly, hyungwon had already forgotten the name of the boy who had gotten too friendly with her by the time she and her friends left the party to gouge themselves on fried chicken and pizza per kihyun's request. she wouldn't be surprised if he started the rumor to save face after almost getting his nose punched in by a girl half his size but, beside kihyun and minhyuk, no one who knows what really happened will bother to defend hyungwon's name. there isn't anything left to do but let it run its course until everyone finds something else to gossip about.

hyungwon walks up to her desk and pulls out her chair so she can sift through the shelf underneath. she takes out her neat stack of folders, one for each class in each color of the rainbow.

pinching out the green folder, she flips it open and plucks out the thick, stapled collection of wasted paper that is her history reading for the next two days. she was on her way out of the school after getting the notes from first period when she realized the homework she left behind.

"ah."

glancing up at the noise and turning to the door, hyungwon blinks at the sudden appearance of hoseok. they've been seeing each other a lot more lately. or maybe he's always been around and she never noticed.

“h-hey, hyungwon,” he nods his head in greeting, a small smile on his face, “have you seen hyunwoo?”

closing her folder and meticulously placing it between the yellow and blue folders, hyungwon shakes her head. "i think he already left." she slips the folders back into her desk and swings her bag off her shoulder to shove her reading packet inside the cramped thing.

“oh. okay.” there’s a beat of silence and then, “are you…how are you?” hoseok mumbles, still lingering in the doorway. his fingers tap to a haphazard rhythm on the side of the entryway.

hyungwon glances at him, raising an eyebrow. “i’m fine. why do you ask?”

“well, there’s the thing with ilhoon and…” his tapping stops as he grips the wall. a scowl mars his handsome face.

“hoseok,” hyungwon calls softly. the amount of emotion the boy is showing because of her is still as surprising now as it was over the weekend and back in the ice cream shop, but it no longer sets off her defense alarms.

he reigns himself in, blinking at her with wide eyes.

“it’s okay,” she says. she knows smiling at him would make her words seem more sincere, but for some reason, she can’t manage it, an unfamiliar nervousness bubbling beneath her skin. “i’m used to it.”

his frown returns but with less anger. “but-”

hyungwon leaves her bag in her chair and walks over to the boy who’s too conscious of something to cross into the threshold of the classroom. she stops in front of him. randomly, she notices that they’re the same height. she might even be a centimeter taller.

his mouth drops open for a second before he presses his lips together again, his adam’s apple bobbing obviously when he swallows. “h-hyungwon?”

“why are you so bothered?” hyungwon flashes a confused frown. “i don’t get it. you really have no reason to be.”

she’s taken aback by the disappointment - she could even call it offense, maybe - that darkens his eyes. he’s never shown her anything other than cute, shy smiles and she wonders what she said for him to look at her like this.

what she said wasn’t a lie. he _doesn’t_ have a reason. she understands he’s genuine. she understands he’s nice. but being a good person and having enough sympathy to realize that someone is not in the best situation doesn’t warrant the same kind of concern hoseok shows for her as just some girl who goes to his school that he doesn’t even share a classroom with.

in her head, she can hear minhyuk screeching _he likes you_ over and over again and hyungwon shakes the phantom voice out.

“maybe if you were the horrible bitch everyone says you are, i wouldn’t be,” hoseok says, holding her gaze. “but you’re not. i can’t even say you’re just misunderstood because no one tries to get to know you in the first place.”

teething at her bottom lip, hyungwon ignores the tiny flip something inside her does. it was a nice answer, she acknowledges. ”so you pity me?” she asks, not sure if she believes that he does or if she’s trying to find something wrong with him.

his eyes widen comically as he shakes his head. “no, of course not.” he bites his lip, his pensiveness evaporating and revealing the adorable nerves she’s used to. “but, it’s unfair how awful everyone treats you and i...i just want you to know that there are other people who are willing to see you as yourself.”

“other people like you?”

hoseok burns a curious pink and hyungwon feels like she might be too.

“yeah...like me.”

hyungwon regards the boy for a little while longer before returning to pick up her bag. after she makes sure she has everything she needs, hyungwon zips up her bag and heaves it over her shoulder.

hoseok is still lingering in the doorway when she walks over again, ready to leave. he rocks back and forth on his heels, nibbling on his bottom lip.

"do you have someone to pick you up?" he asks, backing out of the doorway to let hyungwon step into the hall. 

shaking her head, hyungwon walks ahead of him toward the stairs. he's quick to follow, scrambling after her like a puppy chasing his owner with a tiny meep of surprise.

it's cute.

"i'll take the bus," she answers.

"the bus," hoseok repeats to himself under his breath. then, he clears his throat. "i could...i could take you home. if you wanted. so you don't have to take the bus. b-but if you don't want to then that's okay, i just thought i'd ask."

hyungwon shakes her head again, wanting to laugh at the boy's rambling but holding back. "no, thank you."

"o-oh, okay."

"but," hyungwon cuts him off before he can start again. "you can walk with me to the bus stop."

when hoseok stops in surprise, hyungwon continues, turning the corner at the end of the hall and beginning to go downstairs. she allows a small smile to grace her lips and lets out a quiet giggle. by the time hoseok's steps thunder behind her, the boy running to catch up again, she has herself back under control.

"wait, really?!" he almost trips down the stairs in his effort to fall in line with her. "are you really for real right now?"

glancing over at him, hyungwon raises an eyebrow. "why would i lie?"

"you wouldn't!"

hyungwon hums. "hurry up. i don't want to miss the bus."

the next bus doesn't come for another ten minutes, but it's okay if he doesn't know the reason why she walks faster is because she likes to hear the small squeak he makes when he tries to keep up with her long strides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no one cares but for the past month, this and my kihyunghyuk fic 'russian blue' have been competing in number of views and bxtch has finally taken the lead. purity wins again


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait! my dog ate my laptop!  
> (i'll probably update in a week. maybe. ...maybe.)

“your homework is to finish writing responses to all of the questions you have to complete. due on friday,” are mr. seo’s last words as the bell rings and signals the end of the day.

as soon as they rise out of their greeting bows, chatter fills the room, everyone discussing afternoon plans or complaining about some assignment or project.

hyungwon falls into her seat again and pulls out her planner from inside her desk. her hair falls into her face as she leans over and she tucks it behind her ear with a soft huff. picking up her favorite gel pen, she clicks the point out and flips open her planner to the current week. the spaces are mostly empty, it still being early in the week, and she pens in the new literature homework.

beside her, someone clears their throat.

she looks over out of reflex, clicking her pen, and blinks at hyunwoo still sitting at his desk and looking back at her. he is turned out of his seat halfway as if he was seconds away from getting up when he realized he had something to say to her.

his eyes widen minutely and his back straightens when their gazes lock, the boy obviously surprised she glanced over without him saying something. he swipes his tongue over his lips and clears his throat again. “good luck,” he says with a smile a little friendlier than the ones he usually gives her out of politeness.

raising an eyebrow, she blinks. good luck? “for what?”

hyunwoo blinks back. “i heard from jungkook that the cheerleading results are being announced today.”

hyungwon immediately glances down at her planner but there is no note of that written in the space for that day. then she remembers that she was never interested in joining the squad and only ended up at the tryouts through some still unidentifiable magical interference.

“oh.” glancing up at the boy, she bows her head slightly, unsure of how to navigate this sudden change in their acquaintanceship. “um, thanks.”

when hyunwoo gets up, she busies herself with arranging the things she needs to take home for the night. she’ll put off finishing the literature homework until thursday since she only has two responses left to write. she should probably take a look at the science notes she copied from hyunwoo, just in case they get hit with a pop quiz tomorrow. did she finish her math homework?

as she pulls out her orange math notebook and begins to flip through it, kihyun walks in and stops at her desk.

“minhyuk asked me to escort you to the gym,” she says, rolling her eyes just as hyungwon does.

“proof the squad is a prison that i’ll never escape." hyungwon sighs. quickly finding her math homework already finished, she puts the notebook away and stands. she retrieves her bookbag from the back and starts packing the things she needs.

"you don't have anyone to blame but yourself," kihyun says from where she leans against hyungwon's desk, scrolling through something on her phone.

hyungwon clicks her tongue because she's willing to debate that. zipping up her bag, she slings it over her shoulder and tells kihyun that they can go.

she likes when school ends not only because she can go home but because everyone else is so equally interested in leaving that they don't have time to talk shit. it's one of the only times where she can walk around fairly under the radar and not have someone who thinks they're big and bad try to say something to her. the gossip is always easier to process when it's said behind her back and she can't see how much everyone seems to truly dislike her.

kihyun links their arms together. "what do you want to do to celebrate getting on the squad?"

hyungwon glances down at her, eyebrow raised. "why would i celebrate? and we don't even know if i made the squad."

kihyun glances back, incredulousness plastered on her face. "girl, please," she snorts and knocks her shoulder into hyungwon's upper arm, "there's no way you didn't make the squad. minhyuk would've already lost her mind."

that's true. but at the same time, hyungwon definitely wouldn't be surprised if she didn't make it. and she still isn’t sure if she wants to join. aside from minhyuk, jung hoseok and oh sehun are the only people on the squad who don’t give her the stink eye when they think she isn’t looking.

humming instead of responding, hyungwon lets kihyun change the subject back to celebrating.

 

"you're letting _her_ onto the varsity squad?! honestly?!"

"if you heard her name come out my mouth, then she's on the squad," minhyuk says plainly, not lifting her eyes from the clipboard in her hands. "and the third and last varsity spot goes to chungha."

chungha's sigh of happiness is completely overshadowed by the furious mumbling of discontent from the girls who didn't make it.

kihyun scoffs, jolting hyungwon who is leaning heavily against her shoulder, picking at her cuticles and wondering if she should paint her nails later.

"they're so pathetic."

hyungwon hums in agreement. maybe she'll finally open that eggshell blue polish that she bought forever ago on a whim during that three for five thousand won sale.

"dodo doesn't even have any cheer spirit," one girl complains, arms waving wildly around her. "she doesn't look like she even knows how to fucking smile."

everyone turns to look at hyungwon on the bleachers but she doesn't give them the smile that they want, instead looking at them with bored, lidded eyes. she scans over the faces of the girls who didn't make the cut.

"maybe so," she sighs and looks off toward where the basketball team is doing running drills. hoseok has his bangs pulled off his forehead and held up in a little tuft by a rubber band. it's kind of cute. "but i was still good enough to make it onto the squad without that so what does that say about you?"

before that can spark another argument just like all of the others that have happened since the first workshop, sehun steps in, clapping her hands for attention.

"look, we had specific things we were looking for in order to fill the limited spots on the squad. this isn't amateur hour, it's varsity. those of you who only made junior varsity or didn't make it at all should be thinking about how you're gonna do better for next year's tryouts or prove us wrong, not complaining about our decision."

jung hoseok clears his throat, eyes shifting around the group with some discomfort. "thank you, sehun." he looks over at the clipboard in minhyuk's hands before looking up to address them. "so, those are the results. i need the new girls to give minhyuk their measurements so we can get uniforms but everyone else may leave. thank you so much for trying out. definitely try again next year if you didn't make it!"

a few of the girls mill around, clumping together to talk to each other and send not so secretive glances hyungwon's way. hyungwon raises her eyebrows at a few of them, but antagonizing people only has but so much lasting appeal. soon enough, the rejected girls leave and then hyungwon spends the time waiting for the squad to finish with the rest of them by tossing back ‘celebration’ ideas with kihyun.

“i am not going shopping with her. that’s not a reward, that’s a punishment.” hyungwon waves off kihyun’s suggestion of hitting up the mall. “why can’t we just go out and get shaved ice or something?”

“because i’m trying to hang out and have fun and i want something better than shaved ice.”

hyungwon side eyes the other girl. “so you admit that you’re co-opting my achievement for your own selfish benefit.”

kihyun snorts. “yeah, duh. like i said, i knew you’d make the squad so i’m not really impressed.”

sucking her teeth, hyungwon playfully shoves the older girl. “what a fake bitch.”

giggling, kihyun pushes her back. “takes one to know one.”

 

coach jeon sounds his whistle and ushers the team in. hoseok follows with the crowd, fire burning in his heaving chest and sweat plastering the collar of his shirt to his neck. he lifts the bottom of his shirt to wipe at the moisture dripping from his hairline, happy that he pulled his hair back off his face.

he slides in next to jooheon and leans against him, legs too papery for him to want to hold his own weight.

"good hustle, guys. feels nice to test your stamina, doesn't it?"

hoseok wants to disagree with his coach but all he can do is groan with the rest of the exhausted team.

"we're having a small practice game against hoju technical high school in a few weeks and it may be friendly but i still want to win. they knocked us out of the finals last year and right now they're our biggest competition," says coach jeon, eyeing every single last one of them with the determination of a man with a small grudge.

"hoju just got lucky, coach," claims yoongi. "this year the title is ours."

hoseok chuckles as he watches his teammates bluff about their skills, jooheon yelling in his ear about how they still hold the city record for most points scored in a single game and that so far no one has come close to beating it.

"you bet it is. i'm not letting the trophy get stolen again." coach jeon nods before waving the boys to settle down. "you all worked hard so i'm gonna cut practice early today, but next time we're going hard, okay?" he blows his whistle again and then practice is officially over.

hoseok scrambles for his water bottle, unscrewing the cap and all but choking as he tries to guzzle the water down. hyunwoo slides in beside him, pushing his damp hair back and grinning down at him.

he pats hoseok on the back when the younger boy finally finishes drinking with a heavy sigh. "you alright?"

nodding, hoseok twists the cap back onto his bottle. "my ankles feel like jelly but i'm good."

"you were trying harder than usual."

hoseok shrugs. "i'm on thin ice with coach. don't wanna end up doing nothing but being a final quarter substitution." he also needed to put the extra effort into not looking over at the other side of the gym where the cheerleaders have taken up space.

it seems like they finished with the actual reveal of the results of the tryouts already. some of the existing squad members who are still lingering around are showing the newbies one of their choreographies. they've never performed it at a basketball game, but hoseok thinks he remembers seeing a video of it on twitter taken at a football game.

off to the side and away from them, minhyuk is doing the routine as well. he's surprised to see hyungwon following along, her moves half-assed and subdued compared to her friend's.

he wonders if that means she made the squad.

he really hopes she's on the squad. he'd never be able to make a clean shot ever again but it'd be worth getting kicked off the team just to see her cheer for him – _them_ , cheer for _them_ – once.

“go talk to her.”

hoseok snaps his head over to hyunwoo who stares back. “i-i don’t…” he trails off, thinking of how hyungwon seems to be a little more comfortable around him. they didn’t talk much when he walked her to the bus stop the other day – he couldn’t figure out what to say aside from asking about her classes and hyungwon was content to let him fumble like an idiot – but he isn’t complaining. “…should i?”

hyunwoo shrugs. “don’t you want to?” it’s a rhetorical question they both know the answer to so hyunwoo presses on. “you’re friends, aren’t you? it looks like she made the squad so congratulate her or something.”

bashfulness tints hoseok’s cheeks. “we’re not…” he glances at hyungwon again and sucks in a small breath when she happens to look over at the same time. she nods in greeting and he remembers when she wouldn’t even look at him twice in the hallway. “…are we?”

hyungwon turns to her friends and kicks minhyuk in the ankle as their other friend laughs from her perch on the bleachers.

“are my ears red?” hoseok asks hyunwoo as he takes a step toward the girls.

sighing, hyunwoo rolls his eyes. “just go.”

hoseok runs his tongue over his lips nervously as he walks toward the girls, fanning himself with the collar of his shirt. minhyuk notices him first and soon after hyungwon looks his way.

he clears his throat. “hey.”

the girl on the bleachers stands and smoothes down the back of her skirt. “sorry, i have to use the restroom,” she says after giving hoseok a polite smile.

minhyuk perks up. “i’ll go with you.” she slings an arm around the shorter girl’s shoulders. “buddy system. sorry, hoseok.”

a little confused, hoseok shakes his head. “it's, um, it’s okay.” he watches them walk away for a second before turning back to hyungwon, catching the end of her eye roll.

she looks at him then, but her attention is on the top of his head. he starts to ask what she's looking at when he remembers the little pigtail he made with his bangs.

squeaking a small noise, he quickly reaches up to tug the band out of his hair and tries to rearrange it over his forehead. an embarrassed flush flares beneath his skin. “i forgot i did that. i don't like the feeling of my wet hair so sometimes i pull it back.”

hyungwon nods, but doesn't seem very interested in his explanation.

snapping the rubber band against the inside of his wrist, he chuckles awkwardly. “so...the squad...did you make it?”

humming, hyungwon nods again. “varsity.”

“yes!” hoseok fist pumps like he just made the winning shot right on the whistle before noticing hyungwon's wide eyes and reeling himself in. “um, that's great.” he coughs and clasps his hands behind his back. “congratulations.”

her eyes light up with something but she dips her head before he can figure out what it is. when she lifts her head again, pushing her hair up and off her face as she does so, the glimmer is gone. she rolls her lips together. “thanks.”

rubbing the back of his neck, hoseok grins sheepishly. “no problem.”

“is your practice over?” hyungwon asks, looking over his shoulder at the other half of the gym.

hoseok turns to look too. “ah, yeah. a rare act of mercy. i can't feel my legs.” although he's not sure if that's because he's still fatigued or if it's because of the girl in front of him.

“you worked hard today.”

“oh, you saw?”

hyungwon tilts her head to the side and runs her fingers through her hair again when it falls. “was i not supposed to?”

hoseok raises his hands, shaking his hands frantically. “no, i just… i didn't think you would.”

he thinks the corners of her mouth raise but she rolls her lips again before he's sure.

“maybe i want to see if you're just as bad at basketball as i thought you were.”

hoseok gapes. “you didn't even remember that day!”

she doesn't laugh or smile but her eyes light up again. the butterflies in hoseok's tummy flutter around at the realization that she's joking with him and he can't stop himself from grinning stupidly.

“you're mean,” he tries to sound offended but there's laughter on the back of his tongue. “i'm actually pretty good if i do say so myself.”

“no one is going to admit that they're shit,” she says, voice a little teasing. “but, yeah, okay.”

“hey, hyungwon!” jung hoseok runs over. he looks between the two of them with question in his eyes, no doubt surprised the ice queen is actually talking to someone other than her two friends. “do you know where minhyuk went?”

and just like that, the wonderful atmosphere between them evaporates like water on a hot day.

hyungwon nods, the walls she began to let down going back up. “yeah, i'll go get her.” she looks at hoseok and gives him a tiny frown. “i think hyunwoo is waiting for you over there.”

hoseok glances over and, sure enough, hyunwoo is sitting where he left him, now changed out of his sportswear and back into his uniform. “oh.” he gives hyungwon a small smile. “guess i'll get going then. since you're on the squad now, i'll...see you tomorrow?”

he can't stop himself from sucking in a sharp breath when hyungwon lifts a hand to his face and gently smoothes out his bangs.

she hums, satisfied. “tomorrow.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the fastest i've ever updated anything omg it's been like 5 days
> 
> also i wanna thank everyone who reads this. you all leave such cute comments every time. i didn't think people still read genderbend fics in 2017/8 (i don't lol) so it always makes me really happy to see you enjoy this. i love you, stay perfect <3

“i can’t believe we gave him the perfect opportunity and he still didn’t ask you out,” groans minhyuk. she stomps her right foot down on the pink arrow beneath it, scrolling through the long list of songs.

hyungwon untucks her shirt and rolls up her sleeves. “he doesn’t like me like that. give it a rest.” she leans back against the handlebar and crosses her arms over her chest.

“and i can’t believe you’re so stupid!” minhyuk finally chooses _xepher_ and ups her difficulty to expert. she waits for hyungwon to change hers from basic to difficult before pressing start.

“he literally looks at you like you singlehandedly put stars in the night sky,” kihyun says, leaning against the bulky dance dance revolution machine.

hyungwon still doesn’t think there’s a reason to celebrate but she let herself be dragged across town to the game center. she doesn’t really mind. it was the best of all of kihyun’s suggestions and brings back fond memories of when she and minhyuk settled their middle school animosity over a three hour dance-off on the older version of this very game.

plus minhyuk offered to pay for her first few games. she's not going to complain about that.

running her fingers through her hair, hyungwon wishes she had a hair tie. “shut _up_ , no he doesn’t.” thankfully, the song starts playing and all of them concentrate on the arrows flying up the screen instead of whether or not hoseok has a crush on her. that way they can’t see the tiny smile that pulls at her lips.

she doesn’t think hoseok likes her in that way — after all, there’s no reason why or how he would — but she can appreciate how he always seems genuinely pleased to see her.

it’s a feeling she hasn’t experienced at school since freshman year when people still treated her relatively well. it’s been so long since someone sees _her_ instead of ‘ _dodo_ ’.

and honestly...she’s kind of scared.

the past two years at this school tell her that she shouldn’t trust him, that he’s just like all of the others who told her things she wanted to hear only to find out secrets they could run back and tell their _actual_ friends. they’ve gone to the same school for three years and only now he wants to befriend her? it’s suspicious.

but she can help but open up around him and let her guard down. he’s just so impossibly sweet and he has such an adorable, heart-warming smile. she wholeheartedly believes he’s a great guy.

if he turns out to be like the others...she’s afraid of how much it’ll hurt now that she has started to trust him.

“were you even trying?” minhyuk turns to her with pinched brows after the song ends and their scores are shown.

hyungwon usually averages a high B on this one but it’s a C that stares back at her.

she shrugs. “i gotta warm up. you’re gonna regret going all in tomorrow when you can’t walk.”

minhyuk narrows her eyes and gives hyungwon a once over. her lips spread into a smirk. “is today the day you finally admit that i’m better than you?”

hyungwon scoffs and takes them back to the song selection screen. “as if. you’re only good for a few rounds. i can go all night,” she taunts, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “choose _gamelan de couple_ next.”

minhyuk all but screams. “i cannot believe you just said that.”

kihyun hides her boisterous guffaw behind a polite hand. “a boy shows a little bit of interest in her and she goes wild. maybe she isn’t as frigid as we thought, min.”

“oh my god. stop bringing him up.” hyungwon changes her difficulty to expert as soon as minhyuk finds the song and tries not to draw further attention to herself as she blushes lightly.

minhyuk starts the song. then, she turns to waggle her eyebrows at hyungwon. “i can’t wait to tell your mom that it’s time to give you the talk.”

hyungwon shoves minhyuk off the dance pad.

 

“you guys,” hoseok starts, only to be cut off by collective groaning.

“here he goes,” changkyun sighs, voice crackling through hoseok’s headphones.

“and just when we thought we’d have a day of rest,” complains jooheon.

hoseok’s player is slammed into by one of the special infected zombies and he sits back, tossing his controller to the side as he dies. he frowns, brows pulling all the way together, at his screen as it switches over to jooheon’s point of view. “you don’t even know what i’m going to say.”

jooheon laughs. “yeah, we do.”

and then changkyun joins back in. “you were going to — aw, i wanted the chainsaw,” he whines. hoseok can imagine the pout on his face perfectly.

“sucks to suck,” hyunwoo mumbles as he starts slashing zombies in the corner of jooheon’s view.

“anyway,” changkyun sniffs loudly. “hoseok, you were going to talk about dodo for the nth time. man, now that’s she’s on the squad, you’ll never stop.”

“i still can’t believe she tried out.” jooheon curses at the game. “are we ever going to make it out of this horde?”

“me neither. it’s so weird. like, i can only imagine them cheering at side court and then there’s just...her.”

he sinks further into the floor, cushioning his head against the front end of the couch. he pulls his blanket up over his head as the air conditioning comes on full force in the chilly basement. “are you done? you two honestly talk about her more than i do” he says, sounding more than a little miffed.

the guys finally make it to the safe house and hoseok picks up his controller again to wait for the next part of the level to load.

jooheon taunts. “someone’s mad.”

“guys, really,” sighs hyunwoo.

“yeah, a little.” hoseok doesn’t give hyunwoo time to attempt to mediate. “but it’s fine. just wait until you find someone you like and i talk shit about them without caring about how that makes you feel.”

his character respawns and hoseok silently goes through the motions of picking up supplies before leaving the safe house.

the tension is felt through the voice chat as his friends go quiet after his outburst.

after a moment, changkyun speaks up. “dude, are you actually mad?”

not bothering with responding, hoseok focuses on killing zombies. it’s petty, but when he sees jooheon get attacked by a special infected, he moves straight past him and doesn’t help.

“what the hell, hoseok? help!”

“oh, sorry,” hoseok mumbles even as he moves his character into the next room in the map.

hyunwoo sighs. “you two _should_ lighten up,” he chides. “you always say she’s a bitch but if i was her and the whole school was always spreading false rumors about me, i wouldn’t be all that nice either. she doesn’t owe anyone anything.”

hoseok turns his head as if hyunwoo is sitting right next to him and not at his own house, surprised to hear the older boy stand up for hyungwon so directly. hyunwoo never seemed to have an opinion on hyungwon, just as confused as to why hoseok is as hung up on her as he is, so hoseok guessed he didn’t care or notice her almost complete isolation.

“i have class with her and unless she’s provoked, she’s like anyone else. hoseok likes her a lot but he’s not delusional and i doubt she’s putting on a nice girl persona just to fool him so if he thinks she’s fine, i don’t think it’s right to keep challenging him about her.”

changkyun and jooheon mumble out concessions that hoseok doesn’t believe are genuine but accepts for the time being. he likes to think he’s a good judge of character; they’ll come around eventually.

 

no one can blame hoseok for eating on the job. spending five or so hours around ice cream, four days a week, without craving a little taste is impossible. he never eats much; maybe once or twice he’ll snatch one of the test-tasting spoons and scoop up a bite when there aren’t many customers around or when no one is paying him any attention.

he’s had his eyes on the new tub of bacon flavored ice cream since he walked in to the shop an hour and a half ago. they added in some temporary flavors starting the day before when he was off but all of the others — cookie dough, black cherry, and banana — are pretty standard compared to that one.

the door swings open when his spoon is already deep in the vanilla plus bacon concoction. for a quick second, he freezes, worried about being caught with his hand in the ice cream bin, but then he realizes that acting out of the norm will make him look like he’s doing something more suspicious than eating ice cream.

he lifts the spoon, the mound of ice cream a little bigger than he thought it would be, and shoves it into his mouth before striking a nonchalant pose.

“i don’t know what kind of image you’re going for, but you look really stupid with that spoon hanging out of your mouth.” hyungwon says as she steps in front of the counter.

hoseok all but chokes on the melting mound of ice cream sitting on his tongue. “oh, hey, hyungwon,” he says, words garbled with his mouth full. the spoon falls out of his mouth and onto the floor. he swallows the ice cream. “fuck.”

he hears a snort and snaps his head up like a puppy hearing its name called. hyungwon has turned her back to him but both of her hands are held up to her face.

“are you... _laughing_?” hoseok asks, shocked.

she shakes her head. “no,” she says, but there’s no mistaking the small giggle she lets out.

he’s embarrassed, but he’s even more so delighted that he’s made her laugh. even if it was because of something unintentionally silly.

“you are! you’re laughing!”

“i’m not.”

but it seems calling her out on it only makes her laugh more. the sound of it makes hoseok feel full, like a hot air balloon. he won’t be surprised if he starts floating off. he probably will transcend the laws of gravity if she turns around while she’s smiling.

she doesn’t. she keeps her back to him until she calms down and only faces him after she has wiped the smile from her face but he doesn’t mind. he’ll wait forever until she’s comfortable.

they stare at each other for a long second before hyungwon averts her eyes. “i’m still not convinced that you didn’t get hired, like, last month,” she says, face tinted a delicate pink. “stop looking at me like that and get me a cup of vanilla.”

hoseok can imagine what he looks like — his facial expression can probably be summed up in one word: goofy — but still he asks: “stop looking at you like what?”

“it doesn’t matter. make my ice cream.” she tries to put some edge into her voice but it’s not as mean as when she’s truly bothered by something.

reaching for a cup, hoseok takes the time to look at her. he hasn’t seen her in more than a passing glance since the day the tryout results were announced; apparently the squad decided to take a few days off before starting practice with the new members. she’s dressed casually in a pair of blue denim skinny jeans and a black, oversized shirt that hangs a bit off her shoulder, her hair tied back in a ponytail. on her shoulder is the same duffle bag from the first time she came to the shop.

“extra rainbow sprinkles?” he asks as he scoops vanilla into the cup. hyungwon looks at him with wide eyes, surprised he remembers that, and nods. hoseok smiles softly at her. after he buries the ice cream in a mountain of sprinkles, he sticks a neon orange spoon into the cup and slides it over the counter. “sudden ice cream cravings? you’ve never come here before.” he rings in her order and tells her the price.

hyungwon hums as she digs out her wallet. she shakes her head. “the dance studio i attend changed locations to down the street a couple months ago. i’ve never really been to this part of town before that.”

“you dance?”

she nods.

“is that why you joined the squad?” he takes her money and drops it into the register. when he holds out her change, she points at the tip jar sitting off to the side and picks up her ice cream.

“i don’t know why i joined the squad,” she says, mixing her sprinkles into the dessert. she opens her mouth but quickly shakes her head and lifts a spoonful of ice cream to her lips.

hoseok frowns a little when he notices her start to close off. “what?”

pulling the spoon out of her mouth, hyungwon then waves him off. she plays with her ice cream for a little bit before asking for the time.

hoseok glances at the digital clock hidden behind the counter. “it’s six forty-seven. why?”

“my class starts at seven.”

“oh.”

hyungwon nods as she eats another spoonful. “i should go.”

hoseok tries not to look too disappointed. “you still have some time.”

frowning, hyungwon tilts her head to the side. "i only have ten minutes and i still have to walk back over."

hoseok has to stop himself from saying she actually has thirteen minutes. he taps his fingers on the counter. so far he's been doing well at staying cool, but he starts to feel the usual nerves as an idea pops into his mind.

hyungwon opens her mouth and before she can possibly tell him goodbye, he gathers confidence and straightens his back.

"w-what time is your practice over?" he blurts out, inwardly hitting himself for stuttering again.

hyungwon blinks at him. "nine."

his nerves grow as what he is hoping for comes a little closer to being true. swallowing thickly, he taps to a faster rhythm as a blush blooms under his cheeks. he really hopes she doesn't get weirded out by him asking. "if you're taking the bus...may i walk you to the stop?"

hyungwon swirls her spoon in her ice cream again. she nods once. and then nods again. "if you really want to then i can't stop you."

that's not true; if there's anything she doesn't want him to do, he won't do it. he doesn't tell her that, though.

"so...it's okay?"

hyungwon gives him an unreadable look. "don't forget to pick up your spoon."

he glances down at the tiny plasticware. he bends down to pick it up and when he stands, hyungwon is already walking away.

she doesn't turn back when she boredly says: "see you at nine, hoseok."

so hoseok supposes it's okay to grin stupidly at her. "see you then!"

 

hyungwon sets her bag down against the back wall of the large studio room. spoon hanging out of her mouth, she sets the dessert down beside her and unzips the bag. she finds her phone and opens up her messages to send one to her father, telling him he doesn't have to bother with picking her up and that she's going to take the bus.

tossing her phone back into her bag, hyungwon hums to herself as she picks up her ice cream again and scoops out a large bite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at the very least, i can say next chapter will actually include them at the bus stop unlike the last time lmao


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long time no see, monfriends. the horrible writer’s block is over *crosses fingers* and i’ve returned with a chapter that i hope isn’t boring after the long wait

“is that your girlfriend?”

hoseok’s boss is pointing in the direction of the door when he looks up and he turns to follow her finger, disinfectant soaked rag temporarily forgotten in his hands.

hyungwon stands outside, her duffle bag slung over her shoulder. she rocks back and forth on her heels and the action is so uncharacteristically cute that hoseok can’t help but crack a smile.

still, he shakes his head and returns to cleaning, wiping the tables faster than he was before. “no, she’s just an ordinary friend.”

and it’s so amazing that he can even call her that — that she even agreed to spend more time with him, even if it is a few short minutes at the bus stop.

he hasn’t seen her allow someone outside of her trio attempt to get close to her in so long. to think he is the one she decided to let in, no matter how little, fills hoseok with amazement.

his boss hums suspiciously as she walks over to where he’s scrubbing at a ring of pink stickiness. “i saw that smile,” she says and playfully pushes his shoulder. in all of the summers he’s worked here, he’s started to think of her as an aunt and the familiarity isn’t unwelcome. “you should ask her out if she isn’t dating anyone.”

warmth bleeds into hoseok’s ears and his stomach swoops. “i’m not going to say you’re assuming wrong,” he starts, “but that isn’t my priority. more than being able to call her my...my girlfriend, i care about if she’s able to call me someone she can be herself around. i know it’s hard to believe when i say i honestly don’t have an ulterior motive and that her happiness is all that matters to me but...that’s really it.”

taking the rag from hoseok’s hands, his boss clicks her tongue. “they don’t make boys like you anymore...or never have.” she nods her head in the direction of the back room. “go change. i’ll finish up here.”

hoseok hesitates because there really isn’t much left to do and he doesn’t mind, but his boss just snorts and pushes him away. so, he says his thanks and runs around the counter and into the back room to grab his bookbag, not bothering to change his clothes. his boss chuckles again when she notices, but she waves and tells him to have a nice night without further making fun of him.

as soon as hoseok pushes open the door and steps out into the warm night air, hyungwon sighs.

“you’re so slow,” she complains, sounding like she’s been terribly inconvenienced.

hoseok laughs. for as positively annoyed as she sounds, hoseok knows by now that she doesn’t mean it. it’s only seven minutes after nine and if she _was_ so bothered, she would have left.

“sorry. why didn’t you come inside?” he asks.

hyungwon turns over her shoulder to finally look at him, her warm mocha eyes lidded with as much boredom as ever. she opens her mouth to say something but quickly closes it. sniffing, she turns her head away again and looks at the lonely road. “i expected you to be on time. i could have missed my bus.”

“why wouldn’t you just leave to go catch it, then?”

hoseok isn’t sure if she realizes the small ‘ah’ she exhales but he doesn’t point it out. he couldn’t even if he wanted to because he doesn’t know what it means.

he takes a guess. “w-would you have stayed to wait for me?” after it leaves her mouth, he feels a little stupid because she wouldn’t do that. it doesn’t make sense. her getting home is more important than anything he can offer her by keeping her company.

hyungwon gives him a long-suffering side eye but doesn’t answer his question. instead, she hitches her bag further up on her arm. “let’s go,” she says. “before you actually make me miss my bus.”

the bus stop is placed in front of a bank, just down the street and around the corner from the shopping block holding the ice cream shop and hyungwon’s dance studio. hoseok’s car is in the grocery store parking lot across the street, but the thought to ask if she just wants a ride doesn’t cross his mind.

hyungwon drops her duffle onto the ground with a relieved sigh and hoseok’s looks at it curiously.

“is it _that_ heavy?” he doesn’t know what she needs for dance practice, but he didn’t imagine it would be anything too weighty.

hyungwon, rolling her shoulders, shakes her head. “i’m feeling a little sore. i stretched weird during practice.”

hoseok frowns. “you should have told me. i could have carried it for you,” he says.

hyungwon shakes her head again. “i didn’t need you to.”

“well, i didn’t say you needed me to. i said if you wanted, i would have gladly taken the weight off your shoulders.”

for a moment, hyungwon is silent and she stares at him with very obvious puzzlement. then, she blinks and inhales softly. “that’s...not what you said at all.”

scratching at the back of his neck, hoseok shrugs. “it was implied. but it doesn’t matter now.”

hyungwon hums a small noise and turns away to look down the road to see if the bus is coming. reaching up, she tugs out the band holding her hair up and it cascades over her shoulders. leaving the band snug around her wrist, she runs her fingers through her hair.

under her breath, she says something hoseok can’t hear.

“what?” he asks, leaning in a little closer.

hyungwon stops playing with her hair and looks at him. the light of the nearby street lamp casts a gold tint over one half of her face and hoseok knows he shouldn’t find the shitty lighting beautiful on her, as if it was meant to shine across her face and not to illuminate the night street, but maybe he’s just that crazy about her.

her eyes trail over his face and he watches the slight shifts in her irises. he wonders what it is that she’s looking for but he doesn’t care to ask. there is nothing he’s hiding from her — he would never _think_ to hide something from her; she can look for as long as she wants, for whatever she wants, because hoseok trusts that she’ll see it. that he isn’t like those other people she tried to befriend. that, if she wants to, she can let him in without fear of anything.

“what else do you do in your free time aside from suck ass at basketball?”

the unexpected question and added insult takes hoseok by surprise and his mouth drops open. “i keep telling you i’m not bad at basketball! i was distracted that _one_ time,” he defends himself.

distracted by her, but she didn’t ask for details.

hyungwon hums disbelievingly and waves her hand like she’s already made up her mind to not believe him.

“i’m not!” hoseok exclaims around a laugh, pushing her shoulder playfully.

and then a small, pleased grin breaks through the mask, accompanied by a light giggle. hyungwon’s lips curl delicately into her rounded cheeks, spontaneous and unrestrained.

hoseok feels his breath catch, his chest warm, and his stomach leap.

the smile doesn’t make her more beautiful, she’s gorgeous with it or without, but it relaxes her — removes the tension she always carries with her in school — and hoseok finds that unbelievably stunning.

too soon hyungwon is gasping as well, and she slaps her hand over her mouth. her eyes are wide and full of something hoseok can’t decipher. shock, definitely, but is there worry there as well? horror?

the soaring feeling hoseok felt quickly returns to the ground at her discomfort and his heart aches for her.

lifting his own hands, he covers his eyes. “if you didn’t want me to see it, then i didn’t see it,” he says.

hyungwon remains silent but hoseok doesn’t move his hands, doesn’t even peek through his fingers.

hyungwon makes a sound in the back of her throat. “that’s stupid.”

hoseok shakes his head. “not if it makes you feel better.”

gentle fingers curl around his wrists and draw his hands away from his face. “it’s stupid,” hyungwon says softly. “but it’s very you.”

the pink that crawls into hoseok’s ears is unstoppable, every nerve in his body on alert from her light hold on his hands. he clenches his hands, unsure of what to do with them, and that regrettably makes hyungwon release him.

hoseok stuff his hands into his pockets so he doesn’t rub at the lingering feeling of her touch around his wrists and offers hyungwon a small smile. “you’re welcome,” he says, hearing the unspoken thanks in her words.

she blinks, staring for a moment, before she nods and faces the road again. they stand in silence for but a minute, hoseok openly watching the girl by his side and hyungwon tugging a long strand of hair falling over the front of her face.

“you never answered my question,” says hyungwon after a sigh. she releases her hair to wrap her arms around her chest.

“oh, right!” hoseok remembers, hopping a little where he stands. “um, i like the usual stuff — video games, running, playing with my dog. i don’t have a lot of time between school, basketball, and work to do anything too exciting.”

“you have a dog?”

hoseok has never whipped his phone out faster. “yeah! his name is gong yoo.” he unlocks the device and finds his photo gallery.

hyungwon rolls and flattens her lips. she inhales deeply before she relaxes. “strange choice but okay.”

“me and my brother couldn’t agree on a name so my mom chose it,” hoseok explains. he finds the pictures from when he took the pup to the park a week ago and tilts his phone in hyungwon’s direction. “he’s cute, isn’t he?”

she leans in close to look at the pictures as hoseok flicks through, cooing softly under her breath. “he’s very cute.”

hoseok laughs and scrolls to a selfie of him lying on his back with gong yoo curled up on his upper chest. the pup was very close to choking him but it made for a good picture. “he gets it from me.”

the street is suddenly illuminated by bright lights as the bus turns the corner.

hoseok glances up at it, a bit of disappointment dampening his smile. hyungwon looks at the vehicle as well.

“that’s mine,” she confirms.

hoseok darkens his phone and puts it in his pocket. he takes a step back and waves. “have a good night. thanks for letting me wait with you.”

hyungwon bites into her bottom lip, thinking something over. in the end, she simply licks over the flesh and shakes her head. she waves as the bus crawls to a stop and the doors swing open. “good night.”

 

“i know none of you have forgotten, but the third year’s class trip is in three weeks,” hyungwon’s homeroom teacher, ms. kang, says as she leans over the podium in the front of the classroom. “please read the paper i passed out to you, have your _parents_ read the paper, and _don’t_ forget any of the things you need to bring. i’d rather not have a repeat of last year.”

hyungwon slides a plain black folder from the pocket of her desk and puts the double-sided sheet inside one of the flaps as her classmates get riled up at the mention of their trip.

hyungwon doesn’t have anything to look forward to. it’s just four days traveling down to busan with the entire school grade to visit museums and sightsee while never being able to escape being surrounded by her classmates. she contemplated faking sick and staying home but minhyuk pouted her way in to hyungwon’s head, convincing her to go on the trip.

ms. kang lets them begin packing up to go before the bell rings and hyungwon fiddles with the corner of her folder as she waits for her classmates to drag their feet on the way out the door. there’s a bit of time before cheerleading practice starts and she’s in no hurry to go the gym and deal with the squad.

in his usual spot beside her, hyunwoo tosses his book bag on his desk and pulls his phone out of its side pocket. he leans against the back of his chair as he does something on the device.

hyungwon glances around the room, still absentmindedly playing with her folder.

“do you have practice now?” hyunwoo asks.

nodding, hyungwon hums. immediately, she blinks, realizing she just answered without confirming he was even talking to her. placing her folder on her desk, she turns to look at hyunwoo who is still on his phone.

he glances at her briefly. “then we’re sharing the gym today. do you want to walk together?”

hyungwon stares at him and after typing something, hyunwoo finally puts his phone down to look at her in return.

“what’s up with you boys and walking me around?”

hyunwoo looks confused for a moment before he laughs. he has a nice smile, friendly and kind of goofy.

“ah, yeah, last night,” he says.

hyungwon’s eyebrows raise. “hoseok told you about yesterday?” it’s hot, as expected of this season, but a sudden wave of heat passes over hyungwon. it crawls from her collarbones, up her neck, and into her face.

she didn’t even tell minhyuk or kihyun, although that’s because she didn’t want to explain herself. it was hard enough telling her parents why she decided to take the bus without making it sound like she was trying to spend time with a secret boyfriend. in the end, she told them she just didn’t want her dad to drive out and use gas unnecessarily when she had friends around to make sure she wouldn’t get kidnapped waiting for the bus.

hyungwon had contemplated telling them; she sat in the center of her bed with her phone in hand, open to their group chat, for minutes. but anytime she started to type out a message she would remember the smile she let slip and the awe in hoseok’s gaze. she would remember the strange swing in her stomach and...she doesn’t want to explain that. she doesn’t think she _can_ explain it.

all she knows is that hoseok is such an unfamiliar brand of innocent sweetness that she finds it hard to keep him at the distance she should.

“yeah, our entire chat thread is just hoseok complaining about you being mean to him but being nice to gong yoo.”

it’s such a hoseok thing to do. hyungwon scoffs in amusement. “was i supposed to insult his dog? i’m a bitch not a heartless asshole.”

“you’re not either,” hyunwoo says simply, like he’s talking about the weather, and it takes hyungwon by surprise.

they’ve started talking more amicably in the past couple of weeks — this is the longest conversation they’ve ever had and it’s not as awkward as it could be, nice even — but she never thought she would hear something like that from hyunwoo. not so early into this new acquaintanceship.

she wonders if that’s all hyunwoo or hoseok’s influence.

the boy turns to his book bag to finish gathering his things to take home. “but, he was really happy,” he says. “he likes spending time with you.”

nodding, hyungwon pushes out of her seat so she can collect her own bag from the back of the classroom. there’s another wave of heat and she glances toward the open windows, wondering why there’s no breeze.

she thinks she might like spending time with hoseok too.


End file.
